People in our society have become increasingly mobile and, not coincidentally, have increasingly come to rely on their electronic devices such as laptop computers, cellular phones, hand-held personal digital assistants, etc. as they travel. These devices, moreover, have become increasingly complex and capable of maintaining a myriad of programs as well as maintaining connections with networks such as the Internet. Telecommuting, i.e., maintaining a business office in a place other than a headquartered office such as one's home and connecting to an employer through a computer or hand-held microprocessing device, occurs across town, across the country, and even across international borders. People demand more of their electronic communication devices too. People want to be able to conduct personal and/or business financial transactions, legal transactions, communications with business associates, employers, employees, family, friends all with one device.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for security of one's information but information has been protected as long as the first secret was spoken; and as long as a person or business entity considers his/her own information confidential. The devices containing the information, moreover, have become subject to thievery irrespective of the information contained therein. So, it is imperative that a person be able to restrict access to information.
There are security systems using the Global Positioning System (GPS) which was designed, funded and operated by the U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) although there are many thousands of civilian uses of GPS world-wide. The nominal GPS Operational Constellation consists of twenty-four satellites that orbit the earth in twelve hours. There are often more than twenty-four operational satellites as new ones are launched to replace older satellites. A satellite orbit repeats almost the same ground track as the earth turns beneath them once each day. A system of tracking stations are located around the world with the Master Control facility at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. These monitor stations measure signals from the satellites which are incorporated into orbital models for each satellite which compute precise orbital data and clock corrections for each satellite. The Master Control station uploads the corrected orbital and clock data to the satellites. The satellites then send subsets of the orbital data to GPS receivers via radio signals all over the world. The GPS receiver processes the signals to compute position, velocity and time of the satellite and/or the receiver. Four GPS satellite signals are used to compute positions in three dimensions and the time offset in the receiver clock.
GPS has been used for years in aircraft, ships, etc. but now consumers are using GPS in computers, automobiles, cellular phones, etc. Restricting access to devices has long been accomplished using passwords. One such password system is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,073 entitled System and Method for Controlling Access to Subject Data Using Location Data Associated with the Subject Data and a Requesting Device to Shimada. In this system, a user enters a password associated with the data, simultaneously a GPS receiver detects the location and if the location is not the proper location attributed to the data, access is prohibited. The password is not geographic specific; rather it is data specific. In Shimada there is a two-part security: first, a password; and second, a location based on GPS location. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/804,358 entitled Password Value Based on Geographic Location, owned by the assignee herein and hereby incorporated in its entirety, is another method of protecting access to an electronic processing device using geographic specific passwords. Again, the user is required to enter a password.
A device and method entitled Automatic laptop reconfiguration based on location of May 1999 uses a GPS tracking chip within a laptop computer which updates the operating system and other non-interactive programs to automatically reconfigure the system clock, time zones, telephone numbers to call for network connections, etc., upon entering different time zones. Access is still allowed, however, to the computer's applications irrespective of location.
Applications or programs having or allowing access to confidential information within an electronic processing device need be enabled only at a place of employment or other specific location. It is preferred or even required, moreover, that access to the data and/or programs not be granted to the device outside of a particular locale. There is thus a need in the industry to restrict access to specific functions within an electronic processing device based on geographic location.